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four Evangelicals arrested for alleged 'forced conversions' in the state of Jharkand, India.

June 15, Asia News

The complaint started with the father of a young tribal ethnic Sarna who wanted to marry a Christian man. The girl, the future husband and two Christians allegedly tried to convert even the elderly father of the girl. Anti-conversion law provides for severe penalties for those who force the conversion of minors and tribals. According to the Hindi-language daily Dainik Jagran, Pastor Sudarshan Manjhi, the Christian Neelam Devi, Sumanti Kumari and her fiancée Rupesh Manjhi were arrested following......

Police slow to register case after church burnt down by suspected Hindu extremists A church in Puducherry in southern India was set ablaze recently, after upper-caste Hindu neighbours had objected to worship services in the area..

June 15, Worldwatch Monitor

Pastor David Santosham and members of the Bible Presbyterian church in Karaikal District left for home after concluding fasting prayers on 25 May. At around ten past midnight, he received an anonymous call informing him that the church was on fire. “My rented flat is about five minutes away. I rushed immediately. The church was in flames,”....

Can only sadhus and not bishops comment on issues of national concern? Opinion By Ram Puniyani.

June 10, Matters India

The archbishops of Delhi and Goa recently asked their parishioners to pray for the nation, as human rights were under attack. Subsequently, a Vishwa Hindu Parishad spokesperson Surendra Jain on June 7 stated that the church in India was trying to destabilize the Modi government.

Archbishop of Delhi Anil Couto wrote to all parish priests and religious institutions in the Archdiocese of Delhi on May 8, asking them to pray for our nation. The letter begins with ......

Christians Arrested at Wedding Site on ‘Forcible Conversion’ Charge in India, Relatives Say Pastor, guest also jailed.

June 13 Morningstar News

Two weeks ago a Christian couple in eastern India was about to get married, not knowing the bride’s father had filed a false complaint of forcible conversion against them, relatives said. As they were preparing for the wedding on May 28, police in Jharkhand state arrived at the site of the ceremony and arrested the bride and groom......

More attacks against Catholic schools feared as new school year starts in Madhya Pradesh Next week, classes start again.

May 9 Asia News

The Church runs 507 schools in the Indian state of Maharashtra. In recent months, Hindu radicals have attacked some schools. The attacks have caused "disturbance in the young minds" of the pupils. Catholic schools welcome students of every religion and social group. For a local priest, "They are all our children."....

15 Christians accused of ‘conversion’ in the Eastern Indian state of Jharkhand.

June 7 Worldwatch Monitor

Police in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand have arrested four and are investigating 11 other Christians on charges of conversion, reported Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW).

The arrest of the four in the village of Podkher, Simdega district, on 29 May is the first reported case since Jharkhand introduced anti-conversion legislation in September 2017....

Violence in a Christian majority state of Meghalaya after BJP allies form the government.

June 7, Matters India

Leaders of various Churches in northeastern India have expressed deep pain and anguish at the recent violent incidents that shattered peace in Shillong, capital of Meghalaya state.

They met amid attempts by certain section of the media and groups to project the incidents as clashes between Christians and Sikhs in Shillong. Meghalaya is one of the three Christian-majority states in northeastern India......

Hindu nationalists call for Christian-free India.

June 6 CNA

Hindu nationalists trampled a photo of Pope Francis near Sacred Heart Cathedral in New Delhi in a video calling for a Christian-free India which was recently posted online. The video shows a group of about 20 people chanting “Pope Francis murdabad,” meaning “down with Pope Francis,” .... accused Christians of promoting terrorism and threatened forcefully to expel them from India, reported UCA News.

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Hindu radicals order Archbishop of Goa: 'Stay out of politics' (Video)

June 5, Asia News

Archbishop Filipe Neri Ferrao is criticized for his pastoral letter dedicated above all to poverty. The initiative of the archbishop of Delhi. The alleged conspiracy against the government of Narendra Modi by the Vatican, Pope Francis and Sonia Gandhi. The words given greatest space in the local press are those related to the alleged danger that the Indian Constitution... Catholics to become more involved in politics ahead of .....

India’s Embattled Democracy’

May 31, NewYork Times

A fair and independent electoral process, judiciary, a Parliament with a noisy opposition, a relatively free press and an army that has stayed away from politics have defined India since it adopted its Constitution in 1950. India stood apart in the developing world as a country where the Constitution served as the basis for the operations of the executive, the legislature and the judiciary. But it has taken just four years of the Bharatiya Janata Party government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the country to realize how fragile that achievement was, how close it has come to being subverted. . ......

Police Complicit in Hindu Extremist Persecution of Christians in Tamil Nadu, India,

May 30, MorningstarNews

Sources Say Officers refuse to help pastor’s mother suffering seizure in custody, they say. After three policemen in southern India interrupted a pastor as he preached this month, his 58-year-old mother accompanied him to the police station. Officers told them to sit on the floor.
Pastor Paul Joshua’s mother, Florence Jacintha, would face worse treatment at Peelamedu police station in Coimbatore District, Tamil Nadu state, on May 13.

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2017 saw 20% increase in atrocities against Indian Christians, says lawyer

May 30, Worldwatch Monitor

Amid growing extreme Hindu nationalism in India, dozens of speakers have called for concerted action to uphold the country’s constitution and fundamental rights, at a conference to mark four years of government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“There is a grave threat to plurality,” Professor Ganesh Narayan Devy, a scholar on India’s religious and linguistic diversity, told the 25-27 May ‘Citizens’ Conclave’ on ‘Building an Inclusive India’ in New Delhi, attended by over ...

Pastor’s Wife Hides Husband from Hindu Extremists Seeking to Kill Him in Northern India Police disparage Christians for holding worship services, sources say.

May 28 Morningstar news

In an attack on a church service in northern India that left a 55-year-old man unconscious, the wife of a pastor hid her husband after Hindu extremists said they would kill him, sources said.

Women and children were not spared in the attack by 25 masked .....

Cardinal. Gracias says: Church responds to threats with harmony, integration and dialogue.

May 26, Asia News

The president of the Indian bishops intervenes on the polemics raised by the appeal to prayer for the 2019 elections launched by the Archbishop of Delhi. With the Interior Minister he speaks of the Churches’ mission, its commitment to the poor, women, marginalized and children in every corner of the country.....

After desecration, Goa church body questions police claim.

May 25, Matters India

In the wake of the desecration of a holy cross in a South Goa village, a Goa Church body on Thursday questioned police claims of solving cases of earlier desecrations reported from the coastal state.

The Council for Social Justice and Peace, a social arm of the Goa Church, also said that these desecrations followed a definite pattern so as to instill fear and ....”

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Latest News

four Evangelicals arrested for alleged 'forced conversions' in the state of Jharkand, India.

Police slow to register case after church burnt down by suspected Hindu extremists A church in Puducherry in southern India was set ablaze recently, after upper-caste Hindu neighbours had objected to worship services in the area..

Can only sadhus and not bishops comment on issues of national concern? Opinion By Ram Puniyani.

Latest News

Christians Arrested at Wedding Site on ‘Forcible Conversion’ Charge in India, Relatives Say Pastor, guest also jailed.

More attacks against Catholic schools feared as new school year starts in Madhya Pradesh Next week, classes start again.

15 Christians accused of ‘conversion’ in the Eastern Indian state of Jharkhand.

Latest News

Violence in a Christian majority state of Meghalaya after BJP allies form the government.

Hindu nationalists call for Christian-free India.

Hindu radicals order Archbishop of Goa: 'Stay out of politics' (Video)

Latest News

India’s Embattled Democracy’

Police Complicit in Hindu Extremist Persecution of Christians in Tamil Nadu, India,

2017 saw 20% increase in atrocities against Indian Christians, says lawyer

Latest News

Pastor’s Wife Hides Husband from Hindu Extremists Seeking to Kill Him in Northern India Police disparage Christians for holding worship services, sources say.

Cardinal. Gracias says: Church responds to threats with harmony, integration and dialogue.

After desecration, Goa church body questions police claim.

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